During the month of December, the domestic box office as a whole made a decent $934 million, which was just enough to help 2012 claim the title for highest grossing year of all time. Compared to past Decembers, 2012 ranks fourth all time. It's way behind December 2009's record gross of $1.066 billion, but it's nicely ahead of both 2010 ($882 million), and 2011 ($877 million).
What worked:
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Part one of Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy easily scored the highest domestic gross of the month with $228 million. That is a respectable number by itself, but in day-to-day comparison it trails The Return of the King by $54 million and The Two Towers by $25 million. This proves that goodwill from The Lord of the Rings wasn't quite strong enough to overcome the 48fps and one-book-three-movies issues. But as I've said before, that's not going to be enough to stop the company of Thorin Oakenshield from reaching $1 billion worldwide.
Django Unchained
Quentin Tarantino's follow up to 2009's Inglourious Basterds is supposedly darker, bloodier, and funnier than its predecessor, but it is definitely grossing more. Django has grossed $68 million in seven days, which is $15 million more than Basterds had at the same point. Django should easily pass $120 million to become Tarantino's highest grossing film, with a final gross between $150 and $175 million.
Les Miserables
Here's another directorial follow-up to a recent and very well liked film (not to mention Oscar winner) that is aiming to outgross its predecessor (and win more Oscars as well). Tom Hooper's The King's Speech earned $138 million back in 2010 and won the Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay. There's not much point in comparing the two films' day-to-day grosses since they were given different release patterns, but it did take Speech about two months to reach Les Mis's six-day gross of $66 million. I definitely think Les Mis should reach Speech's final gross and become the fourth highest grossing musical of all time (behind Grease, Chicago, and Momma Mia!), though if the Academy voters are kind it may gross even higher.
Holdovers
November holdovers Lincoln, Skyfall, Rise of the Guardians, Life of Pi, and Breaking Dawn, Part Two all grossed over $40 million during December. This is quite an accomplishment considering the overbooked nature of the holiday box office due to the plethora of new releases between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Limited Releases
In only five theaters, Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty has grossed $1.368 million in twelve days. That isn't the most impressive limited start of the year, but it should, along with the upcoming Oscar Nominations announcement, generate enough buzz to take first place for the weekend of its nationwide expansion. The Impossible also did some good business ahead of its nationwide expansion by making $529,000 through eleven days in only sixteen theaters. Its expansion won't be as impressive as Thirty's, but it should still fare well in the lean month of January.
What didn't work:
While everybody was out seeing the films mentioned above, almost nobody took the time to see the rest of December's new releases. Jack Reacher ($44 million), This is 40 ($36 million), Parental Guidance ($34 million), The Guilt Trip ($21 million), Monsters, Inc. 3D ($18 million), and Playing for Keeps ($12 million) were all lost in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Were they overlooked unfairly or did they deserve to be cast to the wayside? I don't know. I didn't see them.
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